Thursday, July 20, 2006

A mate had suggested that my fuel problem with Snowdrop might be a blocked vent or a vapour lock so when I took Snowdrop out on a run. As soon as she cut out I got out an removed the fuel cap. Nothing. I noticed some fine white crystals around the filler neck so I suspected fuel contamination. When I got Snowdrop back to her resting place I removed the fuel sender to get access to the tank's contents and my suspicions were confirmed. Somebody has been putting sugar, salt or some similar substance into the tank. I dug out my siphon and drained about 6 litres out of the tank getting most of the contamination out. I was able to separate the petrol from the sugar/salt/watever and put it back in the tank. (the petrol that is!) I also checked the fuel pump and found that the gauze filter had been blocked with rust so I cleaned it out. I hope I can get this car sorted out for a local classic show this coming Saturday.

Monday, July 17, 2006

I bought a clutch kit for £39 from my trusty local motor factor and set aside a whole Sunday to do the job fitting it. I started at 11.30am and it was nearly 10pm when I'd finished! I was interrupted several times and bolts that refused to budge didn't help. Fitting the gearbox was a struggle so I enlisted another pair of hands to make it comply! Also I used my tap and die set to clean up the threads on the bolts. When I reassembled things I used copper grease to make things easier next time. Unfortunately, I've found another couple of problems along the way. An engine mount is broken so it is either raid my spare parts or buy a new one. The other problem appeared when I was road testing. The engine would lose power and cut out. A couple of minutes later the car would start up and run fine and then it would start hapenning again so that's another thing to sort out. I suspect a fuel problem as the ignition timing was set the previous week.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Still having problems with the clutch. I also found out that the master cylinder was leaking so I ordered a rebuild kit and when I rebuilt the master cylinder and tried it out it wasn't much better. Having got back home and checked the parts catalogue I've realised that I've not fitted the rubber boot correctly. It should fit under the washer and circlip. That's easy enough to sort out though. If that doesn't work it might have to be a gearbox out job to check the fulcrum and maybe replace the clutch.

Monday, July 10, 2006

No sooner do I solve Snowdrop's running problems then the clutch starts to play up! It turned out to be a loss of fluid so I bought some flid and a slave cylinder repair kit when I was down at the TSSC International yesterday. When I got back I rebuilt Snowdrop's original slave cylinder and fitted it. I did a test run before I put everything back together and it seemed to be fine. When I'd finished refitting everything I took Snowdrop for anothe road test and it was like it was before I'd started. These cars can be so frustrating!

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Last night I started working on Snowdrop. I adjusted the valve clearances, (tried to) put Redex down the bores, ditched the NGK spark plugs for Champion ones and fitted the downpipe-to-manifold gasket and it seems to have done the trick. I also adjusted the idling and the ignition timing which were both out. Today I've also bought some Holts Flexiwrap for the rear section of the exhaust as the exhaust bandage I'd fitted hadn't worked. Fitting it wasn't too bad and it has cured the problem. The exhaust is a lot quieter now! Snowdrop is running like a dream and since I did all the work she hasn't missed a beat. I'm thinking of going to the TSSC International at Stafford tomorrow and this would be an ideal long-distance road test for Snowdrop.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Oh dear, Snowdrop isn't running right. I took her down to Hollycombe and on the way down she started suffering loss of power from Leicestershire. The problem keeps on coming and going. Also, Snowdrop was running a bit hot so I've sourced a replacement radiator via eBay. (the rad needs to be replaced) My plan of action is to start from scratch and redo the ignition settings. I'll be putting Redex down the bores, checking the valve clearances, ditching the NGK spark plugs for Champion ones, resetting the ignition timing, checking the points and the dwell angle. Hopefully, that will solve the problem. I'm going to remove the exhaust and refit it making sure all the joints are leak free. To this end, I've ordered a new manifold-to-downpipe gasket as Snowdrop didn't have one!